Though it may not be the most ideal way to live, there’s a certain strength in keeping one’s expectations at a healthy low; disappointments become much easier to brush off, and gratification becomes all the more euphoric.
The world of cinema has an especially particular relationship with expectations, which can go beyond “good” and “bad” and instead fuel a fantasy for what one may want the story to be about. Oftentimes, folks walk away disappointed, but those who keep their expectations unsullied with hype and speculation will almost always cash in on the film’s gratifying reality, and the good folks at r/movies have taken to sharing their own stories of movies that blew their expectations out of the water.
The initiating post gave a shoutout to the year’s most dominant blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun that drew equal amounts of excitement and skepticism. It’s no mystery that the end product won the hearts of viewers all over, and there were quite a few of those to be found in the comments.
Prey, the latest entry in the Predator franchise (and, some would argue, the only good one since the original) was another movie that took hold of many dodgy expectations before igniting them spectacularly with the franchise’s deft return to form.
Another user recalled taking one look at the maturity rating for Blumhouse’s Happy Death Day and instantly writing off the comedy slasher as a waste of time. They were, of course, happily proven wrong.
It can be hard not to hope for the best, and it can also be hard to drum up genuine interest. Luckily, it seems that the best thing you can do for a film is to do neither, and instead let it breathe into your unfettered mind; worst case scenario, you were bored for two hours. Best case scenario, you have a brand new all-time favorite.